We Buy Houses & Buildings in Dongan Hills, Staten Island

Housing Stock

What Dongan Hills Is Built From

Dongan Hills has two distinct halves. Below Richmond Road, toward Hylan Boulevard and the Staten Island Railway, the blocks are a fairly regular grid of detached houses, many of them small one-family homes built in the 1950s, along with two-families and later semi-detached and attached houses. Above Richmond Road, the land climbs the eastern ridge of Todt Hill into the Dongan Hills Colony, with winding streets, larger wooded lots and individually designed houses.

The city’s General Charles W. Berry Houses, the southernmost public housing development on Staten Island, sit near Richmond Road and Dongan Hills Avenue. Hylan Boulevard and Richmond Road carry most of the shops and services.

Typical Property Types

• 1950s one-family houses near Hylan Boulevard and the SIR
• Brick and frame two-family houses
• Semi-detached and attached houses from after 1964
• Hillside houses in the Dongan Hills Colony above Richmond Road
• Mixed-use and storefront buildings on Hylan Boulevard and Richmond Road

From Garretson’s to Dongan Hills

The area was first called Garretson’s, after a family that had lived here since the late 1600s. It was renamed to avoid confusion with Garrison-on-Hudson, taking the name of Thomas Dongan, the Irish-born colonial governor of New York in the 1680s. The “hills” are the eastern ridge of Todt Hill. Earlier, the western half was known as Hillside Park and the eastern half as Linden Park.

One of Staten Island’s oldest houses stands here. The Billiou-Stillwell-Perine House at 1476 Richmond Road has sections dating to around the 1660s and 1680s. It is a New York City landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and has been cared for by the Staten Island Historical Society for about a century. Growth accelerated after the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964, and many current residents or their parents came from Brooklyn.

Micro-Areas

Dongan Hills Colony & the Station Blocks

Dongan Hills Colony

The Dongan Hills Colony occupies the slope above Richmond Road, where Dongan Hills meets Todt Hill. Its streets follow the hill’s contours rather than a grid, and its houses, many from the early and middle 20th century, are individually designed on large lots with mature trees and stone walls. The area falls within the city’s Special Natural Area District, which protects steep slopes, rock outcrops and trees. That review shapes what an owner or buyer can add, subdivide or tear down.

The Station Blocks

Below Richmond Road, the Dongan Hills station of the Staten Island Railway sits at Seaview Avenue and North Railroad Avenue, with stairs to Garretson Avenue. It is one of the accessible stations on the line. The Old Town station is to the north, and Jefferson Avenue is to the south. The blocks around it are the densest part of the neighborhood, with postwar houses, two-families and convenient trips to the ferry at St. George. ZIP codes split along the rail line: 10304 to the north, 10305 to the south.

Last Chance Pond

Toward the low-lying southeastern edge, Last Chance Pond Park preserves wetland along the main channel of New Creek as part of the Staten Island Bluebelt. Neighbors fought for it in the 1960s, and it became a park in 1999. Blocks near the creek can sit in mapped flood zones, which matters for insurance and buildability.

Zoning

Zoning Context in Dongan Hills

Most of Dongan Hills is zoned for low-density one- and two-family housing, with commercial overlays along Hylan Boulevard and Richmond Road. As part of Staten Island’s Lower Density Growth Management Area, new construction generally has to provide more off-street parking, larger yards and more open space than the base zoning alone requires.

The Dongan Hills Colony and other hillside areas are in Special Natural Area District-1, which also covers Todt Hill and Emerson Hill. Work on those lots can require review by the Department of City Planning before permits. City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, adopted in December 2024, applies across the city, but most of Staten Island keeps its parking minimums, and accessory dwelling units are allowed on many lots with limits.

Zoning, special-district and flood rules are parcel-specific. Confirm the details for your property with a zoning professional or attorney before relying on them.

Regulated Buildings

Rent-Regulated and Tax-Benefit Buildings

Most Dongan Hills housing is one- and two-family homes, which are not rent-stabilized, and Staten Island has relatively few stabilized apartments compared with Brooklyn. Older buildings with six or more units built before 1974 can include them, and since the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act owners have had few ways to raise regulated rents.

If you own one of these buildings, see our rent-stabilized building page. For newer rental buildings with a 421-a benefit, existing benefits continue on their schedules even though the program closed to new projects in 2022; our 421-a page explains how we buy them.

Inherited Property

Selling an Inherited House in Dongan Hills

A lot of Dongan Hills houses were bought new by families who moved from Brooklyn after the bridge opened, and many are now passing to the next generation. Heirs often face a house with original kitchens and baths, an old boiler, and sometimes a tenant in the second unit.

Letters Testamentary vs. Letters of Administration

Staten Island estates go through the Richmond County Surrogate’s Court at 18 Richmond Terrace in St. George, across from the ferry terminal. If the owner left a will, the court issues letters testamentary to the executor. If not, it appoints an administrator and issues letters of administration. The fiduciary holding those letters generally signs the contract and deed. We can sign while the estate is in process and close once authority is in place; your estate attorney confirms what the letters allow.

How We Help Families

• Siblings who disagree — a written as-is offer gives every heir the same number to weigh
• Out-of-state heirs — we can arrange access and handle the walkthrough so you do not need to travel
• Vacant-house costs — taxes, water, insurance and heat keep running, and vacant houses can be harder to insure
• Houses that need work — original systems, oil tanks, roof leaks or a house full of belongings
• A tenant in the two-family — we buy with the tenant in place and take over the tenancy at closing

Our guide to selling inherited property on Staten Island covers each step. Get tax and estate advice from your own attorney or accountant.

Where We Buy

Where We Buy in Dongan Hills

We buy on every block of Dongan Hills. These are the areas we hear about most:

• Dongan Hills Colony — hillside houses and lots above Richmond Road, toward Todt Hill
• Richmond Road corridor — older houses, storefronts and the blocks near the Perine House and the Dongan Hills library
• Station blocks — postwar houses and two-families around Seaview Avenue, Garretson Avenue and the SIR
• Hylan Boulevard — mixed-use buildings and houses along the main commercial road
• Laconia Avenue & New Creek — lower blocks near Last Chance Pond and the bluebelt
• Jefferson Avenue edge — blocks near the Jefferson Avenue station blending into Grant City

Why Owners Sell

Why Dongan Hills Owners Sell to Us

• Estates — heirs settling a parent’s house who want one clean sale
• Tired landlords — two-family owners who no longer want a tenant
• Big repairs — boilers, roofs, oil tanks or foundations a financed buyer would balk at
• Legal-use problems — basement units or extra apartments not on the certificate of occupancy
• Hillside complications — natural-area review that slows a renovation or subdivision
• Relocating — owners moving off the island who want a firm price and date

These make a public listing slower. Selling directly means one buyer, a written price and a closing date you choose.

Your Options

Your Options for Selling Dongan Hills Property

List With a Broker

Dongan Hills has steady demand from families who want a house near the SIR, Hylan Boulevard and the bridge. A renovated, vacant house can sell well. Listing means repairs, showings, an appraisal and a buyer’s mortgage, plus months before closing. If your house is ready and you have time, listing may net more, and we will tell you.

Renovate or Develop Yourself

Renovating, legalizing a unit or building on a larger lot can add value if you have capital and time. Natural-area review, lower-density rules and carrying costs add risk.

Sell Directly to Red Hook Development

We buy as-is, with tenants, estates and violations, off-market. There is no commission to us, and you choose the closing date. See what we buy or submit your property.

How It Works

How Selling to Us Works

• Tell us about the property — address, units, rents and condition
• We respond within one business day — and review zoning, special districts, flood maps, tax records and violations
• Walkthrough — one visit on your schedule; we can arrange access for out-of-state owners
• Written offer — as-is, clear terms, no repair requests
• Close with your attorney — on the date you choose, once title is clear

Market Context

The Dongan Hills Market

Dongan Hills sells to buyers who want a Mid-Island house with transit and shopping nearby, and the Colony draws buyers who want space and trees without Todt Hill’s top-of-ridge prices. Updated, vacant houses move most easily. Estate houses, occupied two-families, hillside properties with complicated lots and houses with violations sell to a much smaller group.

Those are the properties we focus on. We also buy across the Mid-Island, including Concord, South Beach and Old Town and New Dorp.